“For once in your life you did something right,” Ananya muttered under her breath, though her tone was neither cruel nor playful—just an odd mixture of relief and disbelief—as she gazed around the grand atrium of the seven-star hotel that Mahira had managed to secure for them.

Mahira, walking with the spring of triumph in her steps, halted just enough to turn her head. Her narrowed eyes gleamed beneath mascara-heavy lashes, lips pressed into a pout that was halfway between irritation and accusation. “What do you mean by that?” she snapped, her tone high-pitched enough to make Dev—walking loyally by her side—glance down at her with amusement.